e.l.f. Eye Refresher

e.l.f. Eye Refresher

This is going to be one of my shortest posts ever! Not because I don't think the e.l.f. eye refresher  deserves my usual in depth blog post but really because this is one of the easiest and relied on products in my daily routine and in a short post I know I can convince you it's a worthwhile product!

The e.l.f eye refresher is a rollerball tool that can be used day and night. It's purpose is to refresh, brighten and combat undereye puffiness and discolouration. The refresher contains pomegranate, rosemary,green tea, cucumber and grape to hydrate and nourish the fragile skin. All these ingredients are beneficial in soothing and brightening the skin.  

I use the refresher in my morning routine to prep my undereye for my Cerave eye cream. So before I add my eye cream, the refresher is the first thing I reach for! The eye refresh is an amazing base for my eye cream just like the Urban Decay primer potion is for the lids.My eye cream applies easier and absorbs faster into the skin. I usually have dry undereye patches but I haven' seen them since starting the el.f. refresher. Yeah! I love the cooling sensation that I feel after using the rollerball and my eyes instantly look refreshed and brightened. In my night time routine I do the same and apply the e.l.f. refresher before my night cream. I have noticed major reduced undereye puffiness in the morning, however I can't say that it's helped with my dark circles. For $6 you're buying and eye product that cools, refreshes, brightens and also can be used as a base or primer for eye cream. Seriously love this product! I think I'm on my 3rd tube now :) 

In Canada, you can buy the e.l.f products online or at Old Navy.

Maha

XOXO

P.S.As per usual, I disclose all information to my readers. I was not paid for this post. I purchased this product with my own money. I am not affiliated with e.l.f cosmetics.

Kiehl's Turmeric and Cranberry Seed Radiance Mask

The last sprinklings of Winter have faded away and Spring has finally settled it's sweet self around here. The sun is setting later and the weather is quite warm. I so deeply enjoy that feeling of rejuvenation that comes with this season. 

Speaking of rejuvenation, don't you feel your skin from the cold and bitter wind seems a bit dry and dull? I noticed this the other day as I was cleansing my face. Where did my glow go? I have to admit I've been lazy with my night time skin routine...Gasp! I decided to fix this quickly as I don't like knowing I look dull and lack lustre!  

Kiehl's Turmeric and Cranberry Seed Radiance Masque

Kiehl's recently launched a new masque containing Turmeric and Cranberry seed. As I was curious to unconver the benefits of these ingredients I ended up purchasing the 75 ML jar and received the deluxe sample as a bonus. 

Turmeric is a potent anti-inflammatory spice that is used while cooking but also has amazing skin benefits. Turmeric can treat acne scars, exfoliate dead skin, clear eczema, and provides a youthful glow to the skin.

Cranberry seeds are loaded with anti-oxidants that help fight premature ageing and is the only oil that has a perfect ratio of Omega 3&6 fatty acids so it absorbs quickly into the skin.

The masque is packaged in a red tub. It's not fancy packaging by any means and stays true to Kiehls brand of minimalist packaging. When I opened the tub I was expecting a strong fragrance but it was very light. I appreciate products that don't have an overwhelming scent, especially masques that are meant to be left on your skin for some time.

\\Top,Turmeric and Cranberry Seed Masque Applied to right side//

\\Bottom, Masque Washed Off //

 This masque is very easy to use. You apply a thick layer of product on your face and leave it on for 5-10 minutes. Once ready to remove,you add a bit of water to your face and rub the product, gently, in circular motions. As you can see by the first image above the masque dries to a firm consistency(the right side). By adding water you're releasing the exfoliating cranberry seeds. The exfoliation is very gentle so no need to worry about over or harsh exfoliation to your skin. After exfoliation, either splash water on your face to remove the rest of the product or use a facial towel dipped in a bit of water to gently remove the product. Kiehl's is advertising this masque as an "instant facial" that will brighten the look of dull skin. By looking at the second image above(the right side) of my hand)you notice a considerable difference from the left side of my hand where I didn't apply the product. The skin on the right hand side is very smooth, brighter and radiant. The skin on the left hand side is still dull and lacklustre.  Even after washing my hands through out the day the right side felt very smooth and baby soft:)

I have used the masque on my face twice a week for 6 weeks now. I haven't broken out or experienced dry itchy patches after exfoliating.

My only concern with this mask is that I don't believe it helped shrink or fully clean out my pores like a regular facial would. I believe the cranberry seeds may actually be too gentle as an exfoliating product. Overall the Kiehl's Tumeric and Cranberry Seed masque is a good mask that will give you a gleaming,lustrous and healthy glow to your skin. The exfoliating cranberry seeds are not harsh on the skin and offer gentle exfoliation for an improved overall complexion.

The radiance you achieve with this product lasts for a couple of days wich is a bonus!I'm very happy with how brightened and radiant my skin looks after each use and I plan on continuing to use the Kiehl's Turmeric and Cranberry Seed Masque.

MAHA

XO

*I purchased this product.It was NOT provided to me as a gift. Opinions expressed in this post are my own*



First Impressions: Curl Keeper Styling Collection

The generous team at Trade Secrets sent me the Curl Keeper Styling Collection to experiment with.I was under no obligation to write a post about these products or provide a good review, just my honest opinion. I'll get right to point and not keep you all in agonising anticipation.I Love these products! I don't recall the last time I was so excited about a hair styling product. Finally, I've found my holy grail solution to taming my unruly frizzy curls! I know I sound like an infomercial but holy moly these products work. They REALLY work(in my infomercial voice of course)!

The Visionary Behind Curl Keeper:

Jonathan Torch, the Master of Curls, as he's referred to in the industry, is the man behind Curly Hair Solutions that led to the creation of Curl Keeper Styling Collection. He has over 25 years experience with curly hair and has revolutionised how curly hair is cut, styled and cared for. He's so dedicated to helping people maintain their curly locks that he runs the uber successful Curly Hair Institute on Shepard Avenue West in Toronto. Yes ladies and gents , you read that correctly, there is a salon exclusively for us curly haired peeps! Excuse me as I squeal with excitement!

The Products:

The package that I received included:

• Curl Keeper Styling Cream
• Curl Keeper Original
• Curl Keeper Slip(30 second detangler)
• Curl Keeper  Leave in Conditioner

The Curl Keeper Styling Cream is not like any other styling product you have ever used before. It's not a gel or foaming mousse, it's a lightweight fluidic styling cream that allows you to manipulate your curls while never drying your hair out, creating frizz or build up on your scalp. The cream has a light aroma and adds some shine to your locks.

Curl Keeper Original is the  recipient of several beauty awards in the industry including 2006 Readers Choice Beauty Award.Curl Keeper Original provides all day frizz control and gives you major curl definition. This product is water based so it's safe to use everyday and it will not draw out any moisture from your hair or cause build up. As it doesn't cause build up on your scalp you can re-apply it as many times as you like in a day. On average with CK Original your curls will last 4-5 days and can be reactivated by simply applying water with a spray bottle to your hair. 

Curl Keeper Slip, 30 second detangler is a "silicone free detangling leave in conditioner that will instantly loosen hair knots".

Curl Keeper Leave in Conditioner smooths the hairs that are responsible for causing fly aways. This product is not meant to be washed out and works wonders under high humidity.

First Impression:

I received the Curl Keeper package early on a Monday morning and I had just woken up. I thought what a great opportunity for me to try the products out right away! I quickly showered, combed my hair and applied all the products while following the directions on the bottle and...was disappointed. Yeah, I know, I wrote earlier that I loved these revolutionary products so what's with the conflicting statement right? You see , when you are dealing with innovative formula's such as the Curl Keeper products there comes with it a learning curve. I just assumed because I had been using mousse and gel my whole life along with shampoos, conditioners and detanglers that they all work the same way so they should be applied the same way right? WRONG! To fully benefit from Curl Keeper products you need to watch these very short and extremely helpful tutorials on how to use specific techniques to style your hair so you can achieve maximize results from Curl Keeper.Once I learned and applied these easy techniques I was in love with my hair results!

My hair is very thick, heavy, curly and long (the longest it's been in years)! My curls have a mind of their own and sometimes they want to curl and other times they want to separate, which is normal for curly hair. I wanted a set of products that allowed me to have control over my curls, reduce my frizz and achieve all day volume

and hold without the damage.

To achieve these spiral results above, I ONLY used Curl Keeper Original + twirling technique that is mentioned in the tutorials(life changing)!. As a teenager I had crazy spiral curls like these and loved them, however the only way to keep the curls in place all day was to use mousse or gel. It gave me a bit of the results I wanted but also made my hair very crunchy and caused a great deal of build up. Because of the high alcohol content in the mousse and gel my hair became very dry and unfortunately caused me quite a bit of damage. After using Curl Keeper Original + twirling technique I was able to achieve these bouncy well defined curls that lasted all day. I haven't seen these curls in years!! I was ecstatic. As I had a coffee date with my friends later that night, I decided to loosen some of the curls a bit by separating the bigger ones. The results were beautiful and my friends complimented me endlessly over the curls *blush*! They have always loved my curls but I hadn't worn my hair curly in so long because of the hassle and time it took to actually achieve the results I wanted. With Curl Keeper products it took me 20 minutes including drying time to achieve these curls. For a mom of 3 this is life changing. 

P.S My friends are now CK girls!

This picture above was taken 2 days after the 1st picture in this post. As you can see I did seperate my curls that night to achieve a looser curl. Even on day 3 with no added water to my hair to reactivate the Curl Keeper, my curls still had volume and bounce.

The big waves in this picture were achieved by using Curl Keeper Original + Styling Gel + 30 Sec Detangler + Crunching technique from the tutorials online. I did not add any heat to my hair as I let it air dry. Even without the heat I was able to achieve volume and bounce in my hair.

I'll leave you with my final impression of the Curl Keeper Collection as I know I can go on and on about these products. I've really benefited from CK products because they are so easy and quick to use. I can depend on them to achieve bouncy, healthy lightweight curls without the crunchy texture and without sacrificing volume. I love that the CK Original doesn't weigh my  hair down. Usually because of the thickness of my hair,  volume boosting products don't work on me but this was not the case with Curl Keeper. Try these products out for yourself and see the difference in the silicone free formula and quality for yourself. Even if you have a slight curl and want to enhance that, CK will help you achieve envious curls. I strongly suggest you watch the tutorials on the site and experiment with the technique that best suits your curl definition. To continue to see my curls evolve while using Curl Keeper, please follow me on Instagram here. As well I've uploaded a short clip of Jonathan Torch, founder of Curl Keeper, demonstrating the Curl Keeper techniques used in his salon on me. It's on my new Youtube Channel here!

Curl Keeper Styling Collection can be bought from Trade Secrets.

Maha

XO

Disclaimer: Trade Secrets gifted me the Curl Keeper Styling Collection, however I was not obligated to write a positive review of the product. The opinions and experiences described on this post are my own. 

Currently Coveting : Beauty Wish List

I put myself on a self inflicted " no makeup buy" for 2 weeks. It's been a struggle and I had to rely heavily on will power but I survived! Now that the ban has been lifted I'm back online creating my wish list. What can I say? I'm a true beauty junkie! So many of these  products have been on my radar for awhile and I can't wait to try them out. With Summer coming I know I'll be putting these products to good use! As well, be on the lookout for new product reviews on the blog !

// Kiehl's Tumeric and Cranberry brightening masque //

// Charlotte Tilbury Miracle Wand //

// BITE Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstik //

// CHANEL brightening base //

// Clé de Peau Beauté Concealer //

//Minerlize SkinFinish Future M.A.C (highlighter )//

// Soleil Tan De CHANEL //

//  Fist Timer essie nailpolish //

// Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Blush Parfume //

// L'Oréal Extraordinary Oil //

// Bio Ionic 10X Pro Ultralight Speed Dryer //